Why CFA?

"Give me 3 good reasons why I should choose CFA ... Okay, 4."

Counsel

Our parent company, DTS, has surveyed 100's of 1,000's of school parents & employees. We have evaluated 100's of school's tuition rates, tuition aid, community and family incomes. We are able to give seasoned counsel on your tuition rates and tuition aid budget.

Accuracy

Very high accuracy ratings given by client schools. Clients make awards with confidence, often avoiding over-awarding some families.

Simplicity

The process is easy for you - immediate access to reports, simple award worksheets, complete manual. It's easy for parents - uncomplicated worksheets and application. We work hard so you don't have to. The result? Schools field fewer inquiries from parents.

Helpfulness

Customer service personnel who will help you in your program set up, answer your questions, guide you when adjustments need to be made to parent information. Most issues are handled immediately.

How about some other reasons?

Money saving

Are your scholarship recipients driving a newer car than yours? CFA's accurate evaluation of each family's finances helps guarantee accurate awards, so your tuition assistance funds go farther. Schools that don't use objective formulas for determining a family's ability to pay will often find that they have been awarding too much tuition assistance.

Time efficient

Many schools have spent hours agonizing over award decisions based on subjective opinions about family's finances. Often schools waste precious board time in these decisions. With CFA's reports and worksheets an average sized school could process all its awards in one afternoon!

Current calculations

One family, because they are new to the community, may have a mortgage that is double or triple another family who has lived there for 15 years. Although their incomes may be the same, their finances are not even similar. The CFA application uses current financial figures, not last year's AGI, and not income only. This is because each family has unique needs that change from year to year.

Off of your desk and onto ours

Utilizing CFA's services to handle your tuition assistance applications makes life much easier for those making award decisions (quite often, the Administrator).

Confidence

If an amount reported by a family is unusual, we let you know if it needs to be verified. We even provide you with a formatted letter with which you can request copies of the things needing verification. Most verified entries result in a change that reduces the amount of aid. Optionally, we can do this for you. (Parents pay a little extra for this service.)

Confidential

The only individuals to ever see a family's financial information are: the parents, CFA staff, and the school's financial aid committee. Online, all information is secured with 128 bit encryption. After 1 year all paper applications and reports are shredded. There is absolutely no information about parents and/or schools shared with anyone. Now that's confidentiality!

3rd party objectivity

CFA is totally objective, making recommendations based on the numbers parents have provided on the application.

Customization

Schools with high tuition rates or schools that are in areas with extremely high expenses (especially high housing costs) are able to customize formulas to meet their unique needs. At CFA we are more than happy to process a handful of reports, discuss the results with you, and then make adjustments to the formulas that make the results more suitable to your situation.

501(c)(3) compliant

Using CFA's application with standardized (but customizable) formulas help your school ensure compliance. 50% of Christian schools do not use a written application, and therefore are likely out of compliance with their 501 (c)(3) charter.

Online speed & security

CFA's family application and the school's report are both accessible online. This means that your parents can apply and you can read their report the same day. No need to wait 3-5 weeks for a report.

Control

We do not try to control your TA budget. We evaluate a family's finances, tell you how much they can afford to pay, and then let you make the final decision. CFA does not evaluate your budget and your applicants and then tell you how much to give away. We believe that your committee is best equipped to take our objective evaluation of a family's finances and make a human decision (taking into consideration the families, the school's priorities for awards, and the school's budget).

Christian school specific

CFA considers charitable giving to be a basic living expense. At the same time we cap giving at 10% of the family's gross income. They can give more if they wish, but not at the school's expense.

Cost

CFA's reasonable cost is affordable to most parents. There's no need for parents to pay double for fast processing because all CFA applications are processed on a priority basis, for one affordable price.

Quick

When a family's enrollment hinges on your tuition assistance decision, which works best for you: 3 weeks or same-day? Online processing puts a report in your hands within seconds.

Fair

CFA's objectivity evaluates every family on the same criteria, yet with an opportunity to request an exception for extenuating circumstances.

For quick answers, call 888-685-5783

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